VERIFOR: Institutional Options for Verifying Legality in the Forestry Sector

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VERIFOR Institutional Options for Verifying
Legality in the Forestry Sector
Experts Meeting on Verification in the Forest
Sector Hotel Barceló Albatros, Palma de Mallorc
a, Spain
27-28 April, 2006
The Ecuadorian Outsourced
Forest Control System
Guillermo A. Navarro Filippo del Gatto Martin Sc
hroeder
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Introduction on Ecuador

• Area 246,876 Km2
• 12,7Mi0. people
• Forest cover 10.5-12 Mio ha (46)
• 50 of the land belongs to indigenous
  nationalities
  
• Very high biodiversity vs Forests fragmentation
• Deforestation rate 1991-2000 1,47
• 50-70 of the timber sold in the country is
  illegally extracted .

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Ecuadorian Outsourced Na
tional Forest Control System
(SNTCF)

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Historical and Political Origins of the SNTCF

• 1999 National Strategy for Sustainable Forestry
  Development (Participatory process delegation of
  all State functions which are not strategic
  policy and normative formulation. MoE underwent a
  deconcentration process towards 10 regional
  districts (since 2002 with budgetary autonomy).
• 2000 Changes in regulations of forest law (5
  criteria for SFM, recognition of other land
  tenure systems, creation of the Forest Regency,
  Vigilancia Verde)
• 2002 Approval of secondary environmental
  legislation, which gives solid basis for the
  SNTCF (integrates the recently approved RF VV
  with outsourcing administrative and supervising
  functions).

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Basic Administrative Structure
Ministry of Environment / National Forest
Directorate Delegates 3 functions to private and
civic entities, and supervises them

• Green Surveillance
• (MoE/SGS, police, Army 5 ONGs)
• Functions
• Check points on roads to verify timber transports
  legality-seizure of illegal wood
  
• Provide civil society control and accountability
• Manage trust fund

• Forestry Regency
• (Professional foresters recognised by MoE)
• Functions
• Verify elaboration of management plans prior to
  their approval
  
• Control implementation of management plans and
  logging operations
  
• Fill out transport permits in the forest

• Outsourced Administration Verification
  Services
  
• SGS Functions
• Establish info/statistic system
• Check forest regents reports and field work
• Approve monitor MP
• Issue logging licences
• Issue transport permits
• Collect stumpage taxes
• Charge Verification fee

Source modified from Thiel (2005).
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Flow of administrative services.
Regentes Forestales
Fill and sign transport permits
Transport permits
Trucks
Reports on mgt plans
Transport
Agreed fees
SGS 14 UAR 30 UAL 7 UAI
Forest users or loggers
Management plans
Stumpage taxes SGS fees
Logging licenses
Reports
Access information
Trust fund
Mgt
Vigilancia Verde
Access information
Forest Industry
MoE
Source modified from Thiel (2005).
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Flow of Verification services
Verification trucks loaded
Field inspections of Regents reports (10 y 20)
Forest Regent
Verification management plans and logging
operations (100)
Trucks
Transport
Verification management plans and logging
operations (10 y 20)
SGS (Verification teams)
Forest users or loggers
Reports
Validation transport permits
Vigilancia Verde
Control transport permits
Supervision
MoE
Forest Industry
Source modified from Thiel (2005).
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Flow of Cross-Check and Balances.
Forest users or loggers
Regentes Forestales
Forest Regency Committee
Evaluation
Recommendation of sanctions
Check administrative services
Check fill out of transport permits
Vigilancia Verde
SGS (Administration and verification services)
Association of Forest Engineers
Monitor timber auctions civil society control
and accountability
Civil society supervision
MoE
Society control and accountability
(Through web page)
Monitoring and auditing
Source elaboration by authors.
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Costs of accessing legality

• SGS offices occupied by force by loggers.
• timber industry used political influence to
  dismantle SNTCF.

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Issues on Ownership
Lecciones aprendidas
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Issues on Legal Standards
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Issues on Indepedence
Lecciones aprendidas
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Issues on Impacts Volumes of Timber Siezed by
VV 1999-2005 (m3)

• Seizure of illegally transported wood increase
  double
  
• More than 120 logging licenses were stopped after
  on-field verification
  
• Comprehensive forest information was available
  for the first time.

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Issues on Impacts